Victim Micheel out to steal victory

American golfer Shaun Micheel has revealed how he was the victim of a burglary on the eve of his debut in the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.

Micheel, winner of the US PGA Championship in August but trailing Vijay Singh by one after 29 holes in today's Match Play quarterfinals, said: "The house I am staying in was robbed last night. I lost about $2,000 and things like credit cards and driving licences."

Micheel is renting a villa on the exclusive Wentworth estate where other top golfers such as Ernie Els, the defending champion this week, and former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance have permanent residences.

Tired and angry, Micheel said: "It was quite frightening because we were in another part of our house when it happened. It's made golf less of a priority for me. Unfortunately, it took the police about two hours to arrive and it was 3.30am before I finally got to bed." Els was five-up after 30 holes of his best-of-36 clash with fellow South African Tim Clark.

In the other ties, Open champion Ben Curtis of the US was two-up after 28 against Chad Campbell, also of the US, while Denmark's Thomas Bjorn was six-up after 26 against Mike Weir of Canada.

Meanwhile, England's Gary Emerson, who is thriving on the pressure to keep his European Tour card, hit a second-round 64 in the Turespana Majorca Classic today. That left him just three off leader Damien McGrane of Ireland.